I remember when my mother
Would get angry with me
And I would escape to a tall pecan tree.

I always imagined my mother screaming,
"Where is my dear boy?
He has left and I never got a chance to tell
Him how much I love him."

My mother never did.

So, I stayed up there, watching man-next-door
Mow the lawn or the postman make his rounds.

And eventually,
   I would sink into the strong, loving arms of that tree.
The tree never told me I was bad.
   It never made demands on me.
      It was always nurturing and caring -
         Ever gently rocking.

When I think of the greatest gift
   My child has given me
      It's the moments that she crawls into my lap
         And rests her head against me.

I've become a tree.